McIlroy answers critics of his three-week holiday

RORY McILROY has responded to Colin Montgomerie and others questioning his decision to take three weeks off before next week’s British Open.

The US Open champion said on his website after a practice round at Royal St George’s: “Some people may have wondered why I chose to go from one major straight to another without anything in between and the answer is simple. Because of what happened atCongressional and the way it became such a big deal (he was the youngest winner since Bobby Jones in 1923 and did it with a record score and by an eight-shot margin) I wanted to get everything out of the way and sorted so that when I did start playing again I could just concentrate on golf.

“If I had gone to France (he pulled out of last week’s French Open) I just would not have been able to practice or prepare properly.